


Keyblade Pre-K

by greeneggs101



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, Families of Choice, Fluff, M/M, Young Riku, Young Sora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-21 13:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: AU In which Destiny Islands fell before Radiant Garden and so Squall finds himself playing foster father (brother?) to two keyblade wielders under the age of 7.“Squall... Sora fell into the fountain, again.”Squall looked away from the shopkeeper to where the small, silver haired boy stood beside him, staring at the nearest fountain in concern.Squall sighed. How had he managed to get himself in to this?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this idea came to me while working at my little kids camp....well... actually a thought for the (eventual) sequel to this came to mind. but then I thought about how the characters would get into _that_ situation and so this fic was born. This was supposed to be just a cute small fic to set up for the other one... but then it grew. Hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Note: Leon is called Squall in this fic because Radiant Garden hasn't fallen, which, according to canon was the reason he started calling himself Leon. And trust me... it was difficult to remember to type Squall instead of Leon (so if you see a stray Leon lying around... just let me know.)
> 
> Second Note: about the title... for my non American readers (or even some of my american readers... not sure if Pre-K is a regional thing), a Pre-K (Pre-Kindergarten) is a class of 3-4 year olds that half prep kids for Kindergarten (5 year olds) and is also occasionally more of a daycare. I just thought the idea was funny...

“Squall... Sora fell into the fountain, again.” The six year old’s voice was small, but getting more confident. Or, Squall hoped it meant that Riku was getting more confident. At least, it was better than a month ago when Riku would only tug on his sleeve and point to whatever was ailing him. 

 

Squall looked away from the shopkeeper to where the small, silver haired boy stood beside him, staring at the nearest fountain in concern. 

 

The brunet sighed and sat down the groceries he was holding. Walking over to the fountain, he tugged the small messy haired and now sopping wet brunette out of the water. “Seriously? When will you understand that you can’t lean in that far?” He sat the boy down on the edge of the fountain, hoping that Sora wouldn’t take a second dip. 

 

“I just wanted to see the fish...” Sora pouted, shaking his hair to disperse the water droplets. “I thought they might be baby fish because they’re not jumping out of the fountain.”

 

“I told you... there are no fish in the fountain,” Squall felt a headache coming on, even as Sora turned those big blue eyes on him.

 

“Not ever?”

 

“Nope,” Squall stated, then immediately regretted it as the brunette’s eyes filled with tears. “I mean... Not in these fountains! Maybe there are other fountains--” but it was too late. Sora began to cry. 

 

Riku glared up at him before sitting down next to his friend and wrapping his arms around him. “It’s okay, Sora. We’ll find some fish somewhere else!” 

 

Squall rather doubted it, given that their world didn’t include a beach nearby or even a body of water large enough to be considered a pond. Just the fountains in the gardens. But Sora stopped crying at the prospect of seeing fish and Squall really didn’t want him to start again. 

 

He had enough of that within the past three weeks. 

 

Instead, Squall let out another sigh and picked up the groceries again. Shuffling them into one arm, he held on to Sora with his free hand, hoping to dissuade any further swims in the fountain. Riku held on to Sora’s other hand tightly, probably hoping for the same. They made a sort of strange human chain as they walked back to the house, and Squall saw several of the female shopkeepers coo over them. He felt his face heat up. 

 

How had he managed to get himself in to this?

 

\---

 

The older brunet had found the two boys sleeping in the Fountain Court nearly a month ago. They were sleeping, curled up around each other, clinging to each other so tightly it was hard to tell where one boy ended and the other began. 

 

“Hey,” Squall shook one boy’s shoulder, “You can’t sleep here...”

 

One blue-green eye opened and immediately sharpened into a glare as the silver haired boy positioned himself in front of his brunet companion. “Stay away!”

 

Squall’s hand jerked back and he stared at the boys in confusion. Despite the angry glare, Squall thought he detected a bit of fear and confusion in that voice. 

 

The small brunet woke up at that point, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “R’ku? What happened?” Wide blue eyes glanced around that their surroundings. “Where... Where are we?”

 

“This is the Fountain Court,” Squall tried to reassure them, but apparently that was the wrong thing to say when the boys looked at each other in confusion. 

 

“Where’s... Riku? Where’s the fountain court? How far is that from the beach?”

 

_ Beach _ ? Squall had only read about such places in books. Radiant Garden didn’t have a large enough body of water for a beach.

 

The silver haired boy, Riku, turned back to his companion, “I’m.... I’m not sure... But maybe if we find Mom...” He seemed to trail off, very unsure. 

 

“But those monsters! Riku! What if they took Mom and Dad?” The brunet’s eyes filled with tears. The silver haired boy turned and hugged his friend, though he was also clearly trying to hold back tears. 

 

Squall was at a bit of a loss. 

 

He was more than unprepared for children. 

 

He had to find someone with more experience.

 

\---

  
  


“Well... Finders keepers?” 

 

Cid was not helpful. 

 

Squall had taken the boys to the older man’s gummi ship shop to see if he recognized them. Cid knew just about everyone in Radiant Garden. 

 

Except, apparently, for these two.

 

“I’m not keeping them,” Squall grumbled from the couch in Cid’s office, even as both boys cuddled closer to him in sleep. Sora was curled up in his lap while Riku was tucked under one arm, the boys holding on to each others hands as they slept. 

 

Squall was definitely not keeping them. 

 

The brunet dropped them off at the nearby orphanage. The ladies there were all very nice and had raised many of the local orphans, including Squall. 

 

The boys would be fine there. 

 

Totally and completely fine. 

 

No need to think of wide blue eyes, tears already forming at the corners, or of a pale stubborn face that didn’t match the lost aqua eyes. 

 

Squall didn’t think of these things at all. 

 

\---

 

For about all of twenty minutes.

 

Squall ended up keeping them. 

 

He’ll kill Cid for laughing later. 

 

\---

 

It had been a struggle, at first, juggling sudden fatherhood (brotherhood?) and his job as a castle guard-in-training. His superior, Dilan, thankfully understood and gave him a few days off of training to get everything settled. 

 

Squall rather thought he’d need more than a few days. 

 

After their initial encounter in the fountain court, Riku had gone completely silent for a few days, and Squall had to rely on Sora’s rather dubius interpretation of what Riku needed. The older brunet was pretty sure that Riku didn’t need the extra candy bar (and considering that half of it ended up in Sora’s mouth confirmed that) but he also mostly wanted to keep the kids quiet while he figured out what to do. 

 

His savior came in the form of a short, stooped older woman with a grandchild of her own the same age as Sora. 

 

Sora was thrilled with this development. 

 

Riku, slightly less so. 

 

“Are you sure it’s okay to leave them here?” Squall double checked. Sora and Kairi were picking flowers in the nearby gardens while Riku looked on, arms folded across his chest. 

 

“Of course,” Gramma (for that's what she insisted Squall and the boys call her) said, smoothing the folds in her apron. “I’m here all day with Kairi anyway. It’s no trouble to keep an eye on two more.”

 

“If they give you any trouble--” Squall began but the old woman cut him off. 

 

“Then I’ll give them the same punishment my son got when he was their age,” Gramma finished, a twinkle in her eye that implied she was much stronger than she looked. 

 

Finally, Squall felt confident enough in the arrangement to wave goodbye to his two wards, promising to see them at dinner time. 

 

It was an arrangement that worked out well enough. By the time Squall returned to pick the boys up after training, Riku, Sora and Kairi were all wearing flower crowns and Kairi was placing a flower necklace around Riku’s neck, much to the white haired boy’s distaste. 

 

(“I don’t get it,” Sora whispered, or tried to. He wasn’t very quiet, but Squall gave him the illusion of not listening to their conversation, “Why don’t you like her? Kairi’s pretty...”

 

Riku’s cheeks turned red and he avoided Sora’s gaze, “Cause...”

 

“Riiiiikuuuuu!” Sora whined. 

 

Finally the silver haired boy let out a sigh, “You always said I was pretty...”

 

Squall resisted the urge to groan. Great. Jealousy in a five year old. 

 

“Of course Riku is pretty!” Sora exclaimed hugging as best he could while they were still walking. “Riku is the most pretty.”

 

Riku’s cheeks reddened even more, but he took Sora’s hand and a smile finally graced his features.

 

This time Squall couldn’t hold back the groan. 

 

He hoped that he would no longer be in charge of the boys when they reached puberty. 

 

Someone would not survive. 

 

And it’d likely be him.)

 

\---

 

Weeks passed (and Sora finally stopped falling into the fountains on a regular basis). On the days Squall had training he and the boys met with Gramma in the gardens or dropped them off at her house before the older man would rush off to training. Riku had finally grown comfortable enough with Kairi to stop looking so put out when she and Sora would play together, and even started joining in. 

 

In the evenings, Squall would feed the boys dinner and take them around Radiant Garden, still trying to find their parents. 

 

He asked around the orphanage and the shops, but to anyone’s knowledge, no frantic parent or guardian had come looking for two wayward boys.

 

“Perhaps you should ask Ansem the Wise,” Gramma mentioned once when he picked the boys up after training. “He knows of the other worlds...”

 

“Other worlds?”

 

Gramma laughed, “I forget how the younger generations don’t pay attention to the old stories. It’s Kairi’s favorite legend. The warriors who fought over the light...”

 

“And split the worlds up?” Squall frowned, the tale a vague memory in his mind, “It’s just a legend...”

 

“Legends don’t have to be untrue to make good stories,” Gramma stated. “Just trust me on this, okay? Ask Ansem...”

 

Squall sighed, but nodded and made a request the next day to have an audience with the leader of Radiant Garden. The reply was prompt. Ansem would have a few moments that afternoon and that Squall would be excused from his training duties if he would be bring the two boys. 

 

“Now remember, you have to be quiet when meeting Ansem,” Squall said, trying to straighten Sora’s hair into some kind of order. 

 

It was a lost cause. But he tried. 

 

“Why?” Sora asked. 

 

“Because it’s polite.”

 

“Why polite?”

 

“Because Sora...” Squall sighed, trailing off. He could already feel a headache coming on. 

 

“Because he’s the leader of this town. Like the mayor back home,” Riku answered instead. “You know how Mom tells you to be quiet when the mayor talks at the parade? It’s like that...”

 

“Oh... ok,” Sora hummed happily. 

 

Together, they entered Ansem’s study. 

 

“Ahh. Squall Leonhart was it?”

 

Squall never had the chance to see the leader of Radiant Garden up close. He looked much like his pictures: a tall man, with greying blonde hair and beard, wearing a white lab coat and a long red scarf.  At his side was a small child, maybe three or so years older than Riku. 

 

Squall bowed lowed, smiling a little when he saw Riku and Sora haphazardly copy him. 

 

Ansem chuckled, “No need to stand on such ceremony. Please, what is it that you wanted to speak of?”

 

Squall stood straight and nodded towards the boys at his side. “This is Sora and Riku. They just sort of... appeared one day in the fountain court.” He turned to them, “Can you tell Master Ansem where you live?”

 

“The Islands!” Sora exclaimed, “With Momma and Papa and--”

 

“Destiny Islands,” Riku clarified. 

 

Ansem’s brow furrowed. “I’m afraid I never heard of such a place.”

 

“It has a beach,” Sora tried to help. “And seagulls. You can’t feed the seagulls though cause they’ll eat you.” 

 

Riku nodded, like this was common knowledge. 

 

Squall observed Ansem as the older man’s brow furrowed further, “Sir... I was encouraged to speak with you on this manner from a older woman who cares for a small girl. She said something about... other worlds.”

 

Ansem huffed and smiled a little, “That woman...” He then turned to the boy at his side. “Ienzo. Would you mind taking Sora and Riku to the kitchens to get a Sea Salt Ice cream?” 

 

Ienzo tilted his head before nodding in acceptance. Then he walked over to Sora and Riku, motioning for them to follow him. 

 

Sora eagerly fell into step with the slate haired boy, Riku only looking back for a moment before following as well. 

 

“What I am about to tell you must be kept secret.”

 

“Of course, sir,” Squall acknowledged. 

 

“There are other worlds out there. They are meant to be kept secret from each other but sometimes people slip through the cracks. People who clearly do not come from our world.”

 

“Like Mister Scrooge at the ice cream place?” Squall questioned. He had always wondered, but all the old duck would say was that he came ‘from somewhere else.’

 

“Precisely,” Ansem nodded. “And your friend Cid who builds the gummi ships. They are not always used for travel within the boundaries of Radiant Garden.” He seemed to chuckle a little at that before sobering up. “However... two boys as young as they should not be travelling on their own.”

 

“I don’t think they hopped on a gummiship,” Squall guessed. “Sora has night terrors of a large storm shaking the world apart. And instead of sleeping, Riku would glare at the shadows in their bedroom till I bought a night light.” That was a difficult few nights, dealing with a grumpy child who refused to sleep until he just crashed in the early hours of the morning. 

 

“Shadows you say?” Ansem seemed very troubled. 

 

“Yes.”

 

“Hmm...” Ansem got up and paced around his study for a moment, pausing briefly against one wall before turning back.”Mr. Leonhart, I’m afraid I must ask for you to keep an eye on the boys for now.”

 

“Of course,” Squall immediately replied. It wasn’t until the words were out of his mouth that he realized that he didn’t want the boys to leave his care. At least... not so soon. 

 

The door reopened at that moment, and a brown haired ball of pure joy bounded into him. 

 

“Squall! Squall!” Sora exclaimed, “This is so yummy! Do you want some?” The smaller brunet offered him a half eaten bar of ice cream. 

 

Squall chuckled, “No thanks, little guy. It’s all yours.”

 

“Kay...” Sora eagerly returned to his snack. Riku came up to stand beside him, eating his ice cream much more delicately. 

 

Ansem let out a chuckle, “I see that they will be in excellent care.” He walked over to the two and ruffled their hair, smiling at their giggles. He stood up straight again and addressed Squall. “I will be writing to a friend of mine from another world. Perhaps he can shed some light on the unusual situation

 

Squall nodded and bowed again, “Thank you, sir.”

 

He shuffled the two boys back out into the hallway. 

 

The boys quickly finished their treat as they made their way back through the castle. Squall kept an eye on them while also waving to a few of his peers that were finishing up training for the day. 

 

“Leonhart!”

 

“Hmm?” Squall turned. Sora and Riku paused from where they were racing and turned back as well. 

 

The older brunet saw one of the other guards-in-training, a young blonde, running towards him. He was the one that Squall usually shared small jokes with during lunch time. An acquaintance that might be burgeoning on friendship. 

 

“Hey, where were you this afternoon?”

 

“Sorry, Strife,” Squall pointed back at the boys, “I had to talk to Ansem about these two.”

 

“Huh?” Cloud looked down at the two boys. Sora was now hiding behind Squall’s legs while Riku stood in front of him, observing the blonde quietly. “Oh....hello?”

 

Sora glanced up at Squall quickly before approaching the blonde. “Hi! My name’s Sora!” 

 

Cloud grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair, “My name’s Cloud.”

 

Sora laughed and ducked out of the blonde’s hand before taking it in his own tiny ones and studying it closely. “Wow... you’re really strong!”

 

Cloud laughed, “Well... I have to be to guard the castle.”

 

“Riku’s really strong too! We’ve never had to guard a castle before, well... except sand castles. And that was only because the ocean kept trying to eat them.”

 

“And against the older kids...” Riku added, now approaching the blonde as well. “They sometimes step on our castles just for fun.”

 

“Well... no one’s ever tried to step on our castle,” Cloud stated. 

 

“Of course not,” Riku crossed his arms. “It’s too big.” 

 

Squall chuckled at their interactions. Sora was quick to make friends with anyone, while Riku could be charming and sincere after he warmed up to people. 

 

“So... I didn’t think you had kids...” Cloud muttered, picking Sora up easily, much to the smaller brunet’s delight. A frown grew on Riku’s face, an expression that Squall had become familiar with whenever the boys were separated. 

 

“I don’t... well... I’m just taking care of them. They’re uh... visiting...”

 

“... right...” Cloud huffed, transferring Sora to one arm so he could scoop up the concerned Riku with the other.

 

Riku let out a startled shout before he caught Sora’s hands and smiled at his friends delight. 

 

“Riku! Cloud’s really, really strong!”

 

“Yeah...” Riku squeezed his friend’s hand. 

 

“So...” Cloud glanced up at Squall, “Where to?”

 

Squall couldn’t help but think that Cloud looked really,  _ really _ good holding the two kids in his arms. 

 

Really,  _ really _ good.

 

Quickly he turned to hide his sudden blush and headed towards the exit. “I was just going to take these two home for the evening. I was given the entire afternoon for our meeting with Ansem.”

 

“Ahh... some of the other’s thought you were skipping out.”

 

Squall scoffed at that thought. “As if...”

 

“Yeah... you don’t seem the type.” 

 

Surprisingly, for all the ice cream the boys had eaten, they stayed quiet for the walk home. When Squall turned to look at them, he found Sora already fast asleep head pillowed on Cloud’s shoulder. Riku wasn’t far behind, struggling to keep his eyes open.

 

When they reached Squall’s small, but serviceable apartment, Cloud gently placed the kids down on on the couch. Riku was quick to curl up around Sora and mutter a quiet ‘Thanks’ to Cloud before drifting off completely. 

 

“Thanks for bringing carrying them all the way back,” Squall muttered, rubbing his hand on his neck. 

 

“Oh... yeah. No problem. I didn’t want to wake them and all,” the blonde laughed quietly, running a quick hand through his hair. 

 

“Well, uh...”

 

“Sorry, I guess I should...” Cloud stumbled over the words. 

 

Squall was at a loss himself. He didn’t necessarily want the blonde to go... but he couldn’t think of a reason for him to stay either. 

 

“Squall....” Sora muttered, still tired and half buried under a still sleeping Riku. “I’m hungry...”

 

The older brunet chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair, pulling the blanket off the couch and draping it over them. “You just ate ice cream. Go back to sleep. Dinner will be ready when you wake up...”

 

“Hmm... kay...” Sora started to drift off again, “Can Cloud stay?”

 

“...um... well...”

 

“If you want me to,” Cloud offered.

 

“I want,” Sora said before drifting off completely, curling into Riku’s chest. The silver haired boy tightened his grip in his sleep. 

 

Squall sighed, and ticked the edges of the blanket in tighter. “It’s funny... They sleep curled up like this all the time. Even when I found them in the fountain square...” Squall trailed off, already recognizing his mistake. 

 

“Found? You said they were visiting...” 

 

Squall felt his heart drop at being caught in a lie and stumbled, “Uh, well... you know...” He turned, seeing Cloud raising a dubious eyebrow. “I can’t say... Master Ansem said it’s a sec--”

 

“Is this about the other worlds?”

 

Squall blinked. “Is this a ‘Squall really doesn’t pay attention to stories’ or a ‘Master Ansem just thinks things are secrets that are not secrets’ thing?”

 

He was met with Cloud’s loud laughter. Despite his confusion, the brunet found himself joining in. Finally, they both calmed down enough that Cloud could explain. 

 

“It’s more of a ‘I have a friend who sneaks aboard gummiships and travels to other worlds’ thing.” Cloud took a deep breath, chuckling a little on the exhale. “I promise. Most people don’t know of the other worlds. But Zack’s always believed in stories.” The blonde shrugged, “He just returned from a trip to a place where there’s this constant ongoing fighting tournament with a goat as a referee.”

 

“That sounds...” Ridiculous, is what Squall wanted to say, but he instead finished with, “interesting.” 

 

Cloud nodded, “Yeah...” He glanced quickly back into the living room, probably to check on the boys. “Still asleep.... So... what world do they come from?”

 

Squall quickly took a glance into the living room as well, finding Sora snoring away and drooling onto Riku’s shirt. He turned back to the blonde.  “... you got time to talk?”

 

“Well... we do need to make dinner, yeah?”

 

“Right...”

 

Cloud helped Squall prepare dinner while the brunet tried to explain the day his life changed. 

 

“I remember that day!” Cloud laughed when Squall told him of trying to leave the boys in the care of the orphanage sisters, taking a sip of the whisky Squall had poured for both of them. “You had only been at training for all of two minutes before you ran out in a panic. Everyone thought that someone must have died.”

 

“Well... not exactly,” Squall shrugged, adding the chopped onions to the skillet as he did so. He took a quick sip of his own glass. “But... I dunno. It didn’t feel right leaving them there.” He looked down at the drink in his hand. He startled when he felt a warmth on his shoulder and found Cloud leaning in. 

 

“You were just doing what your heart told you to do,” Cloud stated, squeezing his shoulder in affirmation, “No shame in that.”

 

“Right...” Squall gave a small grin, happy to see it returned. 

 

A sudden scream from the living room startled both of them into action. 

 

Running in, they saw Riku shaking in the midst of a night terror, Sora’s arms around his friend. 

 

“Sora! Don’t let go!”

 

“I’m right here!” Sora cried out, tears streaming down his face when his friend wouldn’t wake up, “C’mon! I can protect you, too! I promise! Just wake up!” He shook the little silver haired boy, but that seemed to make the night terror worse. 

 

“Sora! Mommy!”

 

“Riku!” Squall rushed over and pulled both the smaller brunet and silver haired boy into his lap. Sora was still in tears as Riku struggled with his dream, tears streaming down his own cheeks even in sleep.

 

“Riku! I’m right here!” Sora reached out and squeezed Riku’s hand. 

 

“Shh...” Squall soothed. “Shhh. You’re safe, shhh....” He did his best to calm both boys down. 

 

Cloud came over as well and began to stroke his hand through Riku’s hair and down his back. “Hey... you’re safe. You’re in Radiant Garden....”

 

Slowly, Riku’s sobs quieted and he woke up more fully, blinking wet eyelashes open. As soon as he saw Sora he launched into his best friends arms. “Sora!”

 

“Riku...” Sora tightened his grip as Riku buried his face in brown spiky hair. “It’s okay...”

 

“The shadows tried to take you away!” Riku mumbled, his voice muffled by Sora’s hair, though relief evident in his voice. “I couldn’t hold on to you...”

 

“They can’t hurt me...” Sora reassured him, “Not while you’re here! And I won’t let them hurt you, either.” 

 

Squall saw Riku smile weakly and bury his face more into the spiky brown locks. Sora let out a small sigh and clenched his tiny fist into Riku’s shirt, like that would prevent either boy from being ripped apart from the other. It reminded Squall of the position in which he had originally found the boys.  

 

Finally, both boys seemed consoled enough to stand up from Squall’s lap. 

 

“C’mon... I think we could all use a little bit of food after a nightmare.” Squall ushered them back to the kitchen table, quickly removing his and Cloud’s glasses of liquor before the boys could get too inquisitive. 

 

The boys were quieter than usual as they settled into their seats. 

 

“Mean shadows? Cloud asked quietly, keeping an eye on the boys as Squall plated their dinner. 

 

The older brunet shrugged, “I dunno. I think it has something to do with their world disappearing.”

 

Cloud leaned against the counter, observing the two at the table. “They’ve been through a lot... but I think they’ll be okay. They’re stronger than you think.”

 

Squall sighed as he picked up the plates, “You’re right...”

 

\---

 

After that dinner, Cloud became a much more permanent fixture in Squall’s life than he had been before. Sora and Riku begged nearly every day to play with the blond again, and Cloud didn’t seem to mind being a personal hero to the two. 

 

Eventually, Cloud started joining Squall on his walk home after picking the boys up from Gramma’s house. 

 

“Thank you again for taking care of them,” Squall bowed towards the old woman. Cloud had gone to fetch the two boys from the back garden. “Are you sure you won’t accept any pay--”

 

“Now now,” Gramma said, “They really are no trouble. I promise.” She glanced over to where Kairi was chasing Sora round the tree, Riku cheering her on. Squall was glad to see that the silver haired boy had gotten over his spike of jealousy. Kairi’s infectious laugh and kind nature were no match for the boy’s own stubbornness and pride. All three kids stopped their game once they spotted Cloud. 

 

“Of course,” Gramma continued as Cloud brought all three kids back. “If you ever need someone to watch them in the evening so you two could have some alone time....”

 

Squall felt his face clush scarlet and he was grateful that Sora chose that moment to leap into his arms. He was able to bury his burning face into spiky chestnut hair. Beside him he heard Cloud give a little cough of embarrassment

 

“It’s... it’s not like that. The boys just like having dinner with Cloud...” Squall hurriedly explained. 

 

“I’ve got nothing better to do...” Cloud added. 

 

“Uh huh...” It was clear that Gramma did not believe them. 

 

“Cloud!” Riku shouted, ignoring both the tension and the awkward silence. “Can you show Kairi your sword? She didn’t believe me when I said how big it was.”

 

“I just don’t think it’s possible for someone to lift something half their height,” Kairi said. “You can’t lift the gardener's shovel, can you?”

 

“That’s different. The shovel is taller than me.”

 

“Maybe not inside the house,” Cloud said, eager to move the conversation away from the details of his and Squall’s... acquaintanceship? Friendship? “I can demonstrate outside.”

 

It wasn’t the first time Squall had seen Cloud wield his Buster Sword, but even he couldn’t help but feel a bit of awe when the blonde easily lifted the large sword from his back and performed a few moves. The blade looked light as a feather as Cloud switched grips and slashed the blade from one side to the other (keeping a fair distance from the kids, of course).

 

“Wow!” Kairi exclaimed, practically jumping in excitement. 

 

“See! I told you!” Riku stated, only barely restraining himself from sticking his tongue out. 

 

“Do you think when we get big we can do that?” Sora asked, reaching out hesitantly when Cloud held the sword out to touch. Riku and Kairi also came over to look, and Squall was appreciative that the blonde kept their tiny fingers away from the sharp edges. 

 

“Maybe when you get a little bigger,” Gramma stated, having come out to watch. 

 

“Yay! I can’t wait!” Kairi exclaimed. 

 

“Not you, Kairi,” Riku pushed her. Not hard, but enough to make her stumble. “Girls can’t fight with swords.”

 

Kairi’s face instantly flushed with anger. 

 

Oh boy.

 

Squall pinched the bridge of his nose. He figured that Riku’s childish arrogance and Kairi’s own stubborn streak would clash sooner or later, but he kept hoping for later. 

 

“That’s not true!” the tiny redhead shouted. “Girls can fight!”

 

“No they can’t!” Riku shouted back, “You’re too small!”

 

“I’ll get bigger!” Kairi stamped her foot, “You’re too small too!”

 

“Bigger than you!” Riku huffed and glared at the small brunet who was looking in with increasing worry. “Sora! Tell her I’m right.”

 

“Um...”

 

“Sora!” Kairi exclaimed, “Tell Riku he’s being dumb.”

 

“Uh...well...” Sora stumbled, trying to melt into Cloud’s leg. “I... I think Kairi can fight too, but...”

 

“Sora!” Riku looked utterly betrayed before his face closed off and he pushed Sora as well, “You’re just saying that because you like her! You shouldn't fight either. You’re just a big baby!”

 

“What?!” Sora’s eyes watered and before he could reach out to push Riku back, Cloud easily lifted the brunet into his arms while Squall grabbed Riku. Kairi had run back to her grandmother, hugging her around the waist and hiding her face in the woman’s dress. 

 

“I think we all just need time to cool down...” Gramma stated calmly, stroking Kairi’s hair. “Perhaps we can table this discussion for another day.” She led Kairi back into the house and waved goodbye to the two confused men still standing in the street. 

 

“I hate you, Riku!” Sora cried out from where he had buried his face into Cloud’s shoulder. “Why are you so mean?”

 

Instantly, the arrogant look slipped off of Riku’s face and he turned to stare at the brunet, “What?” 

 

“You’re mean to Kairi and me all the time!” Sora yelled between sobs that were now coming faster, “You yell at us sometimes when we want to pick flowers instead of tag and you think you know everything but you don’t!” 

 

Cloud was only momentarily baffled with what to do with the crying brunet, but he quickly adjusted, putting his buster sword away before trying to calm Sora down. 

 

Squall sat Riku back down to the ground before taking his hand. “Come on. We’re going to give Sora time to calm down while we have a talk.”

 

“But--” 

 

Squall didn’t give the boy a chance to retaliate before dragging him down one of the side streets, only glancing back at Cloud for a moment to see the blonde nod that he had Sora covered. 

 

He held on to Riku’s hand until he was sure the silver haired boy wouldn’t dart right back to Sora if he let go. Once the boy was walking a little less reluctantly and some of the anger had left his face, Squall let go of his hand to let the boy walk on his own. 

 

Riku tucked his hands into his pockets and stubbornly refused to meet Squall’s gaze. “I didn’t mean it...”

 

“Which part?” Squall asked, putting his own hands in his pockets as they walked. 

 

Riku kicked at a pebble. “Sora’s not a baby...”

 

“....and Kairi?”

 

The anger returned and Riku refused to answer. 

 

“You know, there are a few women in the castle guards who would definitely argue with the whole ‘girls can’t fight’ thing.” Cloud’s friend Tifa came to mind first, but there was also Relena who was training in close combat and absolutely lightning quick with a dagger. 

 

“... I guess...” Riku shrugged. “Kairi’s just so... gentle though. I don’t want her to get hurt. Or Sora to get hurt. I can protect them on my own.”

 

Squall resisted the urge to sigh and instead knelt down to be on the boy’s level. “I know you can. But it doesn’t mean they can’t also learn to protect themselves. Besides, maybe they want to learn how to fight so that they can protect you too. They care about you, just as much as you care about them.”

 

Riku blushed and finally met his gaze. “Not anymore. Sora hates me.” Cerulean eyes filled with tears. 

 

Squall realized that while Riku could probably hold his own in a physical fight with someone his size, one word from a smaller spiky haired brunette and the silver haired boy would fall to pieces. 

 

This time Squall couldn’t hold back the sigh as he pulled the boy into a tight hug. “I’m sure he didn’t mean that. Just like you didn’t mean to call him a baby. We all say things out of anger sometimes we don’t mean.”

 

“I just... I don’t want to be the one who hurts him...” Riku mumbled. 

 

“Then maybe we can find ways to control your anger so it doesn’t get the best of you,” Squall commented, letting the boy go. 

 

Riku sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Okay...” 

 

Feeling that they could make their way back to the house, Squall led the way. As they walked, he saw Riku perk up at each step until he was keeping stride with the taller brunet. 

 

At least, he  _ was _ until Squall turned around to check on him and found the silver haired boy gone. 

 

“Riku?”

 

The taller man looked over the crowd, searching for his wayward charge before he found him standing in front of the toy store. 

 

“Riku! You can’t just stop in the middle of the crowd like that!”

 

“Squall!” Riku shouted, not paying attention at all to what Squall was saying, “Look!”

 

Squall looked in the window of the toy shop and saw a display for wooden toy swords, their tips and edges blunted and the perfect size for smaller hands. He looked down and saw Riku staring up at him pleadingly. 

 

“No,” Squall made to walk away, ignoring the smaller hand that latched onto his and tugged. 

 

“C’mon! Please?!”

 

“No. Not after the fight you just had.”

 

“But I wanna get one for Sora and Kairi, too!”

 

That made Squall pause and he looked back at the silver haired boy who had ducked his head in defference. 

 

“I messed up... so I want to make it up to them. Maybe we can all learn how to fight together?” He looked up at Squall with sincere and honest eyes, evidently really wanting to make up for his behavior earlier. 

 

“You still have to apologize. To both of them.”

 

“Okay!” Riku was already running to the shop. 

 

“And you can only play with them if Gramma is around to supervise!”

 

“Right!” Riku picked out three of the swords, only stumbling a little as he carried them to the cash register. “But you and Cloud have to teach us how to fight with them. Properly. We’ll only practice when we’re with Gramma”

 

Squall stared at the smaller boy before finally letting out a grin and nodding. “Deal” 

 

So Squall made the purchase (though he thought Mr. Scrooge over inflated the price on the swords once he saw how much Riku wanted the them) and Riku insisted on carrying them all home. 

 

Cloud and Sora had already made it back, the blonde putting a simple dinner of soup on the stove while they had waited for Riku and Squall to return. Sora was helping Cloud in the kitchen, measuring chicken broth and water under the blonde’s watchful eye, but he eagerly abandoned his task when Riku walked in. 

 

“Riku!” Sora paid no mind to the burden the older boy was carrying and instead flung his arms around his friend. “I’m sorry... I didn’t mean it! I don’t hate you. You're my bestest friend. 

 

Riku dropped the toy swords to the ground and wrapped his own arms around the brunet. “I’m sorry too. You’re not a baby... You’re my best friend, too.” He let go of Sora and picked up one of the swords. “See. We can practice together. Maybe one day, we’ll be as good as Cloud!”

 

“I wield a sword too,” Squall muttered, feeling a tiny bit of jealousy bubble up. 

 

“It’s just not nearly as cool as mine.” Cloud clapped Squall on the shoulder, chuckling. 

 

“Wow! Thanks Riku!” Sora gushed over his toy sword, eying every detail. 

 

Riku picked up the third one, “I’ll apologize to Kairi tomorrow.... Do you think she’ll like it?”

 

Sora glanced at the third sword, “I think she’ll love it! But... maybe we could decorate it?”

 

“Yeah...” Riku looked down at the sword as well. “Maybe with some flowers?”

 

“And a pretty ocean wave!” Sora exclaimed, “Kairi’s never seen the ocean before!”

 

And that was how Squall and Cloud ended up supervising the two as they messed with a small supply of paints to decorate Kairi’s blade. In the end, the wooden toy sword was colorful collage of ocean waves and flowers that Riku and Sora painstakingly drew from the memory of the flowers on their island. 

 

Kairi loved it. 

 

Soon, Squall found himself trading off with Cloud every other day for ‘sword training,’ with the one not teaching the kids how to wield their wooden blades cooking dinner instead. One of them would walk Kairi home after dinner. At least it tired the kids out so they slept better at night. Sora’s nightmares slowly went away, and Riku became too exhausted to glare at every shadow that crossed their path. 

 

\---

 

Soon enough, Squall had graduated from guard training, and now made rounds with one of the more experienced guards, Aeleus. 

 

They were patrolling the fountain plaza when Squall spotted a familiar head of spiky red hair hovering near one of the few empty and dilapidated shops in the district. Soon enough a head of blue hair joined him. 

 

Of course. By now, Lea and Isa would be out of school for the summer, and the blue haired kid could never keep his friend out of trouble, particularly if it involved matches. They were always in the worst trouble at the orphanage and Squall still remembered helping put out the fire behind the item shop last summer, right before he joined the castle guards. Lea had been understandably upset that he had lost control of the blaze so quickly, and the sisters had kept him grounded for the rest of the summer. 

 

“Hope they don’t keep trying to sneak into the castle,” Aeleus stated. 

 

“I’m just worried for anything flammable nearby...” Squall started walking towards them, just to make sure they were going to stay out of trouble. 

 

Lea and Isa both grinned when they saw him, the redhead waving his hands in excitement. 

 

“Not planning on setting any fires today, right? Wouldn’t want my first official day to be fixing your messes.” The brunet narrowed his eyes at the redhead. 

 

“Nah! C’mon, Squall!” Lea grinned and raised his hands, showing they were empty, “My pyromaniac days are far behind me.”

 

“And by far, he means the matches he left at home...” The blue haired boy next to him smirked, outright laughing when Lea stuck his tongue out at him. 

 

Squall sighed. “Just... stay out of trouble.”

 

“No problem!” Lea grinned, then glanced around Squall, eyes widening in surprise.

 

Squall furrowed his brow and looked as well. 

 

Sora and Riku were staring at him in awe, Kairi and her grandmother standing behind them . 

 

“Wow, Squall!” Sora grinned, “You look so cool!” Riku nodded in agreement. 

 

Belatedly, Squall realized that he had never worn his uniform in front of the boys before, always changing into street clothes before going to pick the boys up. 

 

“Oh. My. God.” Lea literally squealed, nearly knocking Squall to the ground in his rush to get a closer look. He knelt down next to the boys and Kairi. “You are all so cute...”

 

Sora and Kairi giggled while Riku glared at the older boy. “I’m not cute.”

 

Lea grinned and poked the silver haired boy in the cheek, “Yeah you totally are!” 

 

The redhead picked Sora up, much to the brunet’s delight and Riku’s absolute horror. “Hello! My name’s Lea! What’s your’s?”

 

“Sora!” Sora giggled and kicked his feet. 

 

“You are too cute!” Lea turned back to his friend, “Can we keep him?”

 

The blue haired boy, shook his head and groaned, “Can you not act like a total creep?”

 

“Hey! I’m not a creep,” Lea muttered but put Sora back down. Riku instantly checked Sora over for damages before glaring at Lea. 

 

“Creep,” the silver haired boy repeated before taking both of his friends hands and leading them back to Kairi’s Gramma who was laughing softly. 

 

Lea looked heartbroken. “Aww...no fair...”

 

“Actually,” Gramma stated as she walked up to Squall. “I’m glad I caught you now, if you can talk for a few moments.”

 

Squall looked over at Aeleus who nodded. “Five minutes.”

 

The brunet quickly agreed and walked back to where Gramma watching over Kairi, Sora, Riku playing tag. “What’s wrong? Is it--”

 

“Nothing is wrong,” Gramma stated calmly, shaking out her apron. “Merely a request. You see... tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Kairi’s mother and father. I always take her to visit the graves every year, and this year will be no different. She’s asked that it remain a day that she spends alone with me.”

 

Squall nodded, but also felt a bit of panic. “I understand... but Sora and Riku...”

 

“I’m sorry to have sprung this on you suddenly,” Gramma looked a little ashamed, “I’m afraid I quite forgot the date myself till Kairi reminded me.”

 

“Right...well.. I’m sure I could...” Squall tried to think. Maybe Cid could take them for a day? But he was busy with his shop... maybe he could just take a day off. But that wouldn’t look good since he was still in his first few weeks. 

 

“We can take them!” 

 

Squall looked up to see Lea and Isa still loitering nearby. Lea had joined in with the kids game of tag, Riku and Sora both squealing as they ran away. Isa stood by, Kairi taking a break by his side. 

 

“We can totally babysit!” Lea repeated, grinning as he caught Riku by the shirt shouting, “Tag!”

 

Riku quickly turned and tagged Sora. 

 

“Aww come on! No fair”

 

“Too slow!” Riku grinned and ran off, Sora following close behind. 

 

Squall eyed the redhead in disbelief, “No way.”

 

“Look...” Lea leaned over as he took a few deep breaths. “I know. I messed up... a lot. But I’m trying to get better. I’ll leave the matches at home and Isa will be there the whole time.”

 

“Don’t drag me into your messes!” Isa shouted, but he didn’t seem too put out. 

 

“We’ll be really good! Promise!”

 

Squall sighed. He really didn’t have another choice. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. But no fire, no sneaking around, no playing in the fountains. You have one chance. You still remember where I live?”

 

“Yep!” Lea grinned. 

 

“Meet me there tomorrow morning. Early.”

 

Lea shouted in excitement, even as Isa groaned. Probably more at the thought of an early morning than from the prospect of babysitting. Squall remembered the blue haired boy being more of a night owl. 

 

Sora cheered at the prospect of a different babysitter and started to eagerly tell Lea what all they could do the next day. 

 

Squall just hoped that he wouldn’t end up regretting this. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Chapter 2! I figured since the fic was written during my first camp (my baby campers), posted at the end of my second camp, I figured I would wait to post the second chapter at the end of my third (and final) camp (of which was the worst, despite the fact that the kids were older than my first two camps. Pre-teens are the worst.) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

 

“Heard the old lady couldn’t babysit today. First time leaving the kiddos with a different sitter?”

 

Squall tried to nicely shrug off the sharpshooters arm. There was something about Braig that he didn’t like or trust, but the older man was still his superior. “Yeah...”

 

“Oh man, big step up for them! What are they up to today?”

 

Squall shrugged, finally dislodging the man’s arm. “I dunno, probably walk around the outer gardens. It’s Riku’s favorite spot.” Though with how Sora was nodding off next to Isa even as Squall had left that morning, it might be a while before the boys were up to go anywhere. Usually they’d sleep on the couch at Gramma’s house after the brunet dropped them off in the morning. 

 

“Ahh... cute kids. I’ve seen them practicing with their little wooden swords sometimes,” Braig let out a laugh, “You training them to be warriors or something?”

 

“Something...”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Braig sneer at him before shrugging of the younger man’s attitude. Which was fine with Squall. He didn’t need everyone to like him, and he did not like this man asking too many question about his kids. 

 

That last thought gave Squall pause. Since when did he thought of the boys as his?

 

Probably since Ansem the Wise asked him to care for them. And probably since before that. 

 

Squall sighed as Braig walked away, evidently figuring out that he would not be getting answers from the surly brunette. 

 

“Wow... That was deep,” Cloud came up beside him, swinging an arm around his shoulders. Squall found the blonde’s touch much more welcoming than Braigs. “What was that about?”

 

Squall looked back at where Braig was still walking down the hallway, heading towards the laboratories in the basement. “Nothing... Braig just being...”

 

“Braig?” Cloud huffed out a small laugh, “Yeah... he puts me on edge too. Asked me to help him and his friends out with one of their experiments the other day. Were gonna pay me for it too.”

 

“Yeah?” Squall raised an eyebrow, “Why didn’t you?”

 

Cloud shrugged, “It would have been after our shift and it was my turn to train the boys. Wouldn’t let them down.”

 

Squall grinned, “Yeah. Can’t have that. Sora would pout and Riku--”

 

“Riku would never let it go. Especially if Sora pouted about it.” Cloud laughed and waved as they separated to go to their guard posts. “See you at lunch....” 

 

“Whatever...” Squall waved back, knowing that Cloud would understand that the indifferent tone was not meant. 

 

Cloud grinned and ran off, Squall heading in the opposite direction. 

 

As he went through his early morning routine (checking in with his immediate superior, some training, and then heading towards his post at the front entrance) he thought about the blonde a bit. Cloud had somehow snuck into his life through his connection with Sora and Riku. And now... the brunet found that the blonde was sneaking into his heart as well. Squall hadn’t ever really dated, men or women. The thought of... wooing... Cloud was a bit...odd. But... Squall also didn’t want the blonde to just...stop being part of his life if Sora and Riku were ever reunited with their parents... 

 

Idly, he wondered he could request that he and the blonde share a patrol round or two... Maybe that would be a good place to start. 

 

Besides, at least he knew he could trust Cloud... 

 

“Excuse me, are you Squall Leonhart?”

 

Squall paused in his walk, quickly glancing behind him where the voice had came from. 

 

There was no one there...

 

Before Squall could even blink in confusion, the voice spoke again. 

 

“Sorry! Down here!” 

 

Squall blinked, looking down. 

 

And found a giant mouse talking to him. 

 

“Um...” Squall blinked again. 

 

The mouse did not go away. 

 

A quiet chuckle escaped from the mouse. “I get that a lot around here.” 

 

“And I thought the talking duck at the toy shop was weird.”

 

“Ahh...” The mouse looked thoughtful, “So that’s where Scrooge ran off to. I’ll have to let his nephews know.” He then let out a grin, “My name is Mickey. Ansem the Wise wrote to me about those two boys you found.” He held out his hand in greeting. 

 

“Oh... Right...” Squall took the hand, “Squall Leonhart. Though...” He glanced back down the corridor, knowing that he should be headed towards the outer gardens for his shift. 

 

“It’s alright!” Mickey said, “Ansem had said that he would reprieve you from guard duties so we could talk.”

 

Squall sighed, relieved, “Thanks. I try to take my job seriously, but the sudden appearance of those two boys have put everything out of sorts.” He let out a grin, “Wouldn’t change it for anything though.”

 

Mickey chuckled and nodded, “Good to heat it. From the sound of things, those boys were lucky to have found you.” 

 

Squall remembered Sora’s sleepy wave this morning and Riku’s brief but heartfelt hug as the older brunet left. “I feel lucky, too.” 

 

Mickey nodded, “So, what can you tell me about them? Or their islands?”

 

“Well...” Squall thought back to Sora and Riku’s numerous descriptions of their island. “They said that their island is part of a bigger island chain, and there’s a smaller island where they like to go play. They also have this tree with a sort of star shaped fruit. A “Powpuu?” Squall shook his head, “I dunno. But...neither of them will talk much about the night their island disappeared. From what I’ve been able to piece together, they were having a sleepover at Riku’s house when their room started shaking. Riku thought it might have been the volcano on the nearby island erupting, so he grabbed on to Sora to wait for his parents to come get them. But they never did. Instead... well... Riku said that the whole roof ripped off and these strange shadows started to attack. Monsters about their height with bright yellow eyes.” 

 

Mickey looked thoughtful, “I see. It’s worse than I thought.” The mouse let out a long sigh. “It doesn’t explain how they were able to get to Radiant Garden though. From what I’ve been able to see, worlds that have fallen into darkness like that... any resident who survives usually ends up at Traverse Town.”

 

“Fallen into darkness?” Squall didn’t like the sound of that. “Traverse Town? Where’s that? Would the boys’ parents have gone there?”

 

The mouse looked at the ground, “Honestly, I checked there first before coming here and asked around based on the description Ansem gave me.” He let out a sigh. “But... everyone there has been there for months. There haven’t been any new arrivals recently.” 

 

Brunet eyebrows furrowed, “But... you’re saying that the boys should have gone there instead?”

 

“Yep...” Mickey rocked back and forth on his heels, a nervous habit evidently. “From what Master Yen Sid said, Traverse Town is sort of like a waystation. If your homeworld was to be swallowed up, Traverse Town opens for you as a place to stay. A safe haven.” 

 

“Right...” A refugee camp, essentially, though probably more built up. Suddenly, he was even more grateful that the boys had found their way here to Radiant Garden, no matter how accidental. 

 

“Do you think I could speak with them? With Sora and Riku?”

 

“Huh?” Squall blinked out of his thoughts, “Uh, sure. Actually...” The brunet quickly glanced down at his watch. The boys were usually up by now. “They might be in the outer gardens by now.”

 

“Alright!” 

 

The older man grinned and nodded, leading the way to the outer gardens. He couldn’t help but feel that, despite the difference in species, Mickey was probably not much older than him, relatively speaking.

 

The corridors were emptying out as guards finishing the early morning rotations were sent home, and the day guards were running to their posts. It felt like any other morning. 

 

That feeling changed as soon as Squall opened the door that led to the outer gardens. 

 

Something was wrong. 

 

For one thing, it was much too quiet. Even if Sora and Riku hadn’t arrived yet, there was usually a few groups of townspeople out here admiring the gardens, but today, they were completely empty. 

 

“Squall!” 

 

The brunet started at the sound of his name, and he looked, seeing Cloud run towards him. 

 

“Squall... the boys!” the blonde’s breath came in pants, and he leaned on one of the castle walls for support while he caught his breath. “I tried... running to your place, just to make sure they weren’t still there... but the house is empty.”

 

“What do you mean? Cloud?” 

 

The shorter man took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Just... it’s better if I showed you...”

 

He led them deeper into the gardens, where evidence of a struggle remained. The flowers were trampled in several spots, and there were scuff marks on the mosaic pavement. 

 

“And there...” Cloud pointed. 

 

Squall looked over, finding one long stick on the ground. 

 

No...not a stick.

 

Squall hurried over and picked up the tiny wooden sword. Sure enough, Riku’s name was engraved on the handle. Riku never let go of his sword unless he had to. Generally the only time Squall could pry it from his grip was when the boy slept. 

 

“Riku!” Squall called out, “Sora!”

 

“It’s no use, I already tried,” Cloud came over and laid a hand on the brunet’s shoulder. “We’ve looked all over the gardens. No sign of them.”

 

Squall growled, “Who was on patrol in the gardens?”

 

“Dilan and Braig were just coming off patrol...” Cloud muttered, glaring over to where the two guards were assisting the others in closing off the area. “Braig says he didn’t see anything and Dilan was talking with the guards coming onto patrol.”

 

“I trust Braig as far as I can throw him,” Squall grumbled. 

 

“Hey, is that sword pointing to something?”

 

Mickey’s voice startled both Squall and Cloud from their conversation. The brunet had nearly forgot the mouse was there. 

 

“Huh?” Cloud tilted his head in confusion, “Who are...”

 

“He’s a friend,” Squall said quickly, then tried to see what Mickey did. He looked in the direction the sword was pointing, and then the other way. He only saw the edge of the garden wall. “I don’t understand... it’s just the wall.”

 

“Hmm... try down here...” Mickey moved over. 

 

Squall frowned, but knelt down to the mouse’s level. Again, he followed the line of sight the sword was pointed towards. 

 

Then he saw it. 

 

Hidden behind some small rose bushes and a tangle of ivy was a trap door, just large enough for a grown man to crawl through. 

 

Or two small children. 

 

Squall hurried over, pulling grass and vines out of his way. The door was still cracked open, and opening it further revealed a ladder leading to an underground passageway.

 

Thankfully, it was just the trap door that was small. Once Squall climbed down the ladder, he found that it opened into a large passageway that led in two different directions.

 

“What is this place?” Cloud wondered, following the brunet down the ladder. 

 

“Perhaps a secret entrance for the gardeners to tend the grounds without trapezing throughout the castle...” Squall theorized. He sniffed and then let out a sneeze, “Must not have been used in a while. 

 

Mickey crawled in after Cloud and looked both ways down “Well... whatever it is... which way do we go now?” 

 

“Strife! Leonhart!” 

 

Squall hurried back to the trap door, “It’s my kids who disappeared, Aeleus. We’re gonna follow this to see where it leads.”

 

From the other side of the door, Squall saw the guardsman nod. “Very well. Braig, Dilan and I will continue the search out here. Please report back in an hour, regardless of what you find.”

 

“Right...” 

 

“Squall! This way!” Cloud called out.

 

Squall caught up with his friend and the mouse. “How do you figure?”

 

“The other direction was covered in dust,” Mickey explained. “This way had footprints.” 

 

Squall glanced at the ground and saw the evidence the mouse pointed out as well as drag marks through the dusty floor. 

 

Along the edge of the passageway were two smaller sets of footprints, much smaller than the others. 

 

The footprints led them down a winding route under the outer gardens. If Squall had to guess, he would presume that they were being led to right under the castle. 

 

Unfortunately, they soon ran out of footprints to follow as the passageway forked into three paths, all three well used if the number of overlapping footprints and tracks was any indication. 

 

“Great. Now which way?” Squall considered splitting up, but also didn’t want to waste time. 

 

“Hey, is that..” Cloud trailed off, running down one passageway to the right, Squall and Mickey not far behind. 

 

Against the wall of the passageway was another two sword, pointing further down the hallway. Squall picked it up, running his finger over the familiar lettering of Sora’s name. 

 

“I don’t understand. Were they kidnapped? Or did they follow their attackers?” Mickey wondered quietly, checking further down the passageway for more clues. 

 

“Considering we haven’t found Isa or Lea yet, they may have followed their attackers in search of them.” Cloud guessed. 

 

“When I find them...” Squall trailed off, not sure himself what he would do. Probably scold the boys after hugging them for at least an hour. 

 

“We’ll find them...” Cloud murmured softly, again placing his hand on Squall’s shoulder in comfort. 

 

“Come on!” Mickey called out. 

 

The passageway took many twists and turns, but luckily no further forks in the road. Eventually, the hallway became brighter as more lamps started to flicker on, and the style of the bricks changed. 

 

“I think... we’re under the castle now,” Squall guessed, feeling the bricks. “These bricks are drier than the ones closer to the garden.”

 

“Given the general direction we’ve been going, that would make sense,” the blonde agreed. “It’s an pretty indirect way to get here though.”

 

“Well... I suppose if you’re kidnapping someone you wouldn’t want to get caught.”

 

“Shh...” Mickey crouched close to the wall of the passageway, “Someone’s coming.” 

 

Squall looked at Cloud in confusion. He couldn’t hear anything, but they pressed themselves up against the side of the corridor anyway. After a moment, the mouse’s ears proved to be true as the twin sounds of two sets of footsteps echoed down the hall. 

 

“Come along, Ienzo,” a man’s voice called out. There was the sound of smaller boots running quickly before a door closed. 

 

Mickey slowly turned the corner, Squall and Cloud right behind him. Just around the bend in the corridor was a large metal doorway. The brunet hurried towards it, pulling on the handle. When it didn’t even budge, he considered kicking it in. 

 

“Just a sec!” Mickey called out. 

 

When Squall turned to look, he saw a strange looking sword in the mouse’s hands. Some sort of colorful blade covered in stars. A light shone from the tip, shooting towards the lock on the door. 

 

There was a click, then the door nudged open. 

 

“What...”

 

Mickey let out a little chuckle, and there was a light as his blade vanished, much like Squall’s own gunblade does when he doesn't have need of it. “It’s called a keyblade. Very handy for unlocking doors... and other things.”

 

“Uh huh...” Squall shook his head. This day was already weird enough. 

 

Cloud snuck through the doorway first, followed by Squall and Mickey and together all three crept through what looked like a darkened laboratory. 

 

“Are you sure about this Braig?” a voice called out, and with a start, Squall realized it was Aeleus, “Leonhart and the other guard went down the passageway, along with the mouse--”

 

“Don’t sweat it,” Braig’s voice was loud, “The passageways wind around endlessly and they’ll just get lost. Even if they do find the door, no way they can open it.”

 

“Don’t be so sure,” a different voice answered, one Squall didn’t recognize. “If Aeleus says that the mouse is with them, it’s possible that they can open the door.” 

 

“It’s a mouse.”

 

Squall could practically hear Braig roll his eyes with that statement. 

 

“And a keyblade master,” the strange voice added. “Surely you don’t need a reminder of what those can do?”

 

Squall heard Braig chuckle nervously and refrain from making another snarky comment. 

 

“I just don’t see why you wanted those kids,” another voice --Dilan?-- added. “Our experiments show that...”

 

“There’s something about those two....” the stranger growled, “Something--Even!”

 

There were footsteps that hurried down the laboratory from another room and Squall quickly ducked out of sight, while Cloud and Mickey hid behind a door. 

 

“Yes, Xehanort?” 

 

Squall recognized the voice as the one who had called for Ienzo earlier. Why would he bring a child into this...whatever this was?

 

“How are our two subjects?”

 

“Placed in their experimentation chambers,” Even replied. “Though... the two children they were babysitting are still missing.”

 

“We can nab them later...” Braig said, “It’s only the old woman who watches them normally... surely it’d be easy to lure them away later.

 

“Perhaps, but not now that we’ve already taken these two...” Xehanort let out a loud sigh. “Find them now, we don’t have time to wait for an investigation to end.” 

 

“Very well,” Even agreed, “I’ll take Ienzo to look for them. Perhaps they’ll come out of hiding if they recognize another child.” The footsteps left the room everyone was talking in, and Squall pressed as far back against the wall as he could. “Ienzo!” A long sigh, “Now where did that child run off to this time?”

 

The footsteps retreated, thankfully away from where Squall and the others were hiding. 

 

Squall managed to breathe again. Whatever these guys were planning, it didn’t sound good. Not if they were experimenting on kids. And Dilan and Aeleus? Squall clenched his fist. He looked up to those two. He hoped that maybe they were going along with...whatever this was in order to catch or stop the instigators before anything bad happened. 

 

Though... it didn’t sound like it.

 

Squall suddenly felt something tug on his sleeves, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked down, expecting to see Mickey, or maybe even Sora or Riku. 

 

Instead, he saw the small child that had accompanied Master Ansem that day Squall took the boys to the leader’s office. 

 

Ienzo. 

 

The boy was as silent as ever, only looking up at Squall for a second before turning and pointing to a laboratory table that had been covered with a large white cloth. Squall looked closer, watching as draping of cloth near the floor seemed to twitch a bit, fluttering as if caught in a breeze. 

 

Or as if two children were hiding underneath.

 

He placed his hand on Ienzo’s shoulder, nodding in thanks, then got down to his hands and knees so he could crawl over to the table. He heard scuffling behind him and saw Ienzo following suit. Cloud and Mickey kept an eye out just in case. 

 

Slowly, and barely daring to breath, Squall made his way over to the vibrating cloth. “Riku?” He breathed out, not wanting the boys to scream or shout if he pulled the cloth up without warning, “Sora?”

 

Slowly, one hand reached out from under the cloth and Squall hurriedly took it, raising the cloth and finding his two boys huddled underneath it, squished between unused lab equipment and the legs of the table. Their eyes widened with relief, especially when Squall reached in to ruffle their hair affectionately. “You two are in so much trouble when we get home,” he whispered, but even he couldn’t keep the relief out of his voice that he found them unharmed. 

 

They both offered sheepish grins before another loud shout from the scientists reminded them all where they were. 

 

Squall turned back to Ienzo, “Do you know how to get back to the gardens?”

 

Ienzo tilted his head in thought, but eventually shook it in the negative. 

 

“What about getting to Master Ansem’s office?”

 

Another no.

 

Squall sighed and instead motioned for the boy to crawl under the table with Riku and Sora. “Stay there till I come get you, okay?”

 

They would have to wait till all of the scientists and guards were out of earshot before trying to make their way back into the tunnels. 

 

Unfortunately, they never got the chance. 

 

“Hey!” 

 

Just as Squall rearranged the table cloth to cover the three boys, there was the sounds of scuffle, then Cloud gave a grunt of pain and the metal clash of a large sword falling to the ground echoed throughout the darkened lab. 

 

Not darkened for very long as lights soon swamped the area, making Squall flinch at the sudden brightness. 

 

“Aeleus! Dilan! Get the mouse!” 

 

More sounds of a struggle and Squall just barely resisted running to Mickey’s aid. He had to think of protecting the boys frist. 

 

“Mickey!” Cloud called out. 

 

There was a shot and another grunt of pain, this time from the mouse. 

 

“So, two down,” Braig drawled, “Presumably one to go...Leonhart.”

 

Squall flinched, but didn’t move except to crawl further away from the boys. If they did find him, no reason to give away the kids’ location. 

 

“See... you seem like the kind of guy where, even if we do threaten your friends over here, you probably wouldn’t come out,” Braig’s voice resounded around the laboratory. “And I can respect that. However... if you don’t come out, even if you somehow manage to escape with your kids, we will find them, and I promise you: What we were planning to do to them will seem tame to what I  _ will _ do to them if you don’t come out... _ now _ .”

 

Squall debated it briefly in his head. 

 

He could probably make a run for it, but if Aeleus and Dilan were here, who knows how many other guards were in on this. If it was a majority, they would be caught in minutes. 

 

He couldn’t risk it. 

 

Squall had backed up far away from where the boys were hiding and stood up. Sure enough, one of the men in a lab coat--Even, Squall guessed-- immediately ran over to where Squall had moved to and began looking under the tables nearby. Squall hoped he was dim enough not to look on the other side of the room. 

 

Mickey, apparently dazed by one of Braig’s bullets that had glanced off his arm, was held down by Aeleus, who only looked mildly regretful at the situation they were currently in. Braig and Dilan both held Cloud down, the blonde struggling in their hold to get to his sword. Braig’s double arrow guns were pointed at Cloud’s heart an Mickey’s head. 

 

Squall raised his hands, not want it risk escalating the situation if he summoned his own sword. 

 

“Got you!”

 

“Let him go!”

 

Squall looked over, finding Even pulling Sora and Riku out from their hiding place by the hand. Both of them struggled against the hold. 

 

Ienzo was, curiously, left behind in the hiding spot. 

 

“So... we have all of them, then?” a voice asked, the one that had been identified as ‘Xehanort.’

 

“Yep.” Braig flipped his gun in his hand, sure of their victory.

 

Another figure stepped into the laboratory, one that Squall only vaguely recognized as one of Master Ansem’s apprentices. A younger man, maybe a little older than Squall, with white hair and strange gold eyes. 

 

“Who are you?” Squall demanded. 

 

The apprentice smirked, “I am Xehanort. You’ll have to forgive the rude welcome. We certainly hadn’t anticipated capturing all of you.”

 

“Just my kids.” Squall glanced over to where Sora and Riku had stopped struggling, instead staring at the newcomer in confusion and...

 

Squall frowned, only just now noticing that while Sora’s brow was furrowed, there was a slight spark in his eye, like he recognized the Xehanort, but he couldn’t figure out how. Riku was glaring at the ground, as if angry or disappointed in the man in front of him. 

 

“What did you want the kids for anyway?” Cloud ask, still straining against Braig and Dilan’s hold. 

 

Xehanort scoffed, and turned to look at the boys, whose struggles began anew once the amber eyed glare was on them. “They are quite interesting. Not from this world?”

 

The words were said in question, but Squall refused to answer. Xehanort obviously knew the truth anyway. 

 

The man raised an eyebrow at the silence. 

 

Squall hated that look. 

 

“You’re that mean guy!” Sora shouted suddenly, “That one who kicked Riku and I out from our secret place!” 

 

Xehanort laughed in derision, “And if I am, little warrior?”

 

“It was our secret place!” Sora reiterated, kicking to the point where Even had to tighten his hold, even as Sora flinched in pain. “It was our secret place with our secret door!”

 

“Door?” Mickey asked, waking up from his dazed state. 

 

“Ahh...yes...” Xehanort snapped his fingers, as if remembering something, “The secret door. Interesting thing... there’s one in the basement here as well. If you manage to open it, the world becomes connected to the darkness. Though... as the experiment at Destiny Islands showed... open it too far, and the darkness spills out too fast to contain. It can swallow up whole worlds in a single night.”

 

“You’re the one who made their world disappear?” Mickey shouted, starting to struggle. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? All those people!”

 

“It was just some backwater world that was just too small.” Xehanort’s tone was dry and uninterested. 

 

“It was still their home!” Squall shouted, hating this man for taking Sora and Riku’s home away, for taking their parents away. Swallowed by darkness didn’t sound like it would be easy to bring them back. “You had no right!”

 

“I had every right!” Xehanort growled. 

 

Then, a flash of something that reminded Squall of electricity sparked in Xehanort’s hand, and then in an instant there was a blade held to the brunet’s throat. Squall could feel the dark energy radiating off the strangely shaped blade, the blue eye near the tip was practically glowing with it. 

 

“Stay out of things that don’t concern you,” the apprentice stated firmly, then pulled his blade back, getting ready to strike. 

 

Squall cursed himself for not summoning his blade earlier. It would take too long to summon it now. Mickey and Cloud were still trying to struggle out of their captors’ holds.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Squall saw a small head of silver hair pull his hand free of Even’s tight hold and run over to him. Riku stood right in front of him, spreading his arms and glaring up at Squall’s attacker. 

 

Squall gasped and immediately knelt down to wrap his arms around the little guy, trying to shield him from the blow. 

 

The blow... that never came?

 

Hesitantly, Squall glanced up. 

 

Xehanort still had his blade raised, and looked like he had been in the midst of swinging it when he and it were frozen. 

 

A stop spell?

 

But no... no one had said anything. 

 

Suddenly, the air around Xehanort began to glow, and Xehanort himself began to shift and change. His hair darkened, becoming almost brown, while his eyes flashed from gold to blue. 

 

It was evident that whatever was happening to Xehanort, the man was trying to fight it. His blade dropped to the ground as he clutched his head. 

 

“Damn you... Been quiet for months and now...” Xehanort muttered. Then his eyes flashed blue again and though it was Xehanort’s mouth moving, a different voice answered. 

 

“Not gonna let you... hurt a kid...My apprentice.” The voice was strained, struggling against some unseen force. 

 

One blue eye glanced down at Squall. No... not at Squall. 

 

At Riku. 

 

“That voice,” Mickey stated, awed, “Are you... Terra?” 

 

Xehanort/Terra groaned and gave a stiff nod before looking back at Squall. 

 

“You... you gotta get him out of here... can’t hold him back much longer.” 

 

Squall glanced down at Riku who was staring up at the struggling man with a mixture of fascination and horror. 

 

But before Squall could even lift the child in his arms and take him away, Xehanort screamed, a mixture of two voices. There was a bright flash of dark energy the slammed into Squall. He hit the wall behind him, Riku still in his arms and both were knocked to the ground. He heard Mickey, Cloud, and several of the other apprentices give grunts of pain as they too were knocked into walls and the surrounding furniture. 

 

Squall groaned, quickly checking on Riku who seemed to be okay if slightly dazed. 

 

“Stay there, where you belong...” Xehanort grumbled, and it appeared that Terra’s influence had vanished, leaving behind the malicious apprentice. The blade he had been holding, which was knocked back in the blast, disappeared from the chaotic rubble surrounding the man and reappeared back in his hand. 

 

Squall groaned, trying to hide Riku under his own prone body, but he didn’t have the strength for more than that. 

 

Then he heard it. The light scraping noise of metal against concrete. Blue eyes cracked open and watched as Sora, little four-year-old Sora, struggled to drag and lift Mickey’s star studded blade across the floor before stopping in front of Squall and Riku. 

 

“You can’t hurt my friends, you meanie!” 

 

Xehanort scoffed, “Don’t make me laugh, little warrior. You can barely lift that Keyblade. How will you defend your friends if you don’t even have the strength to fight?”

 

Squall struggled to sit up at least, incase he had to drag Sora away as well, and watched as the tiny brunet did his best to maneuver the blade into a stance Cloud and Squall had drilled into him. Crouching low to the ground and raising the blade up just enough so it didn’t touch the floor. 

 

“I don’t need strength to fight you. My friends are my power!” 

 

Suddenly, as if Sora had muttered some magic spell, a bright light shone from the end of the keyblade. Squall felt his strength return and Riku began to move about a bit more in his arms. 

 

Whatever the light was, it had a negative effect on Xehanort, who tried to shield his eyes. 

 

“Good job!” Mickey called out, running over to the smaller brunet and helping him hold the keyblade better, “Now, let’s see if we can hold him.” 

 

Letting Sora maintain a hold on the hilt, Mickey helped him raise it and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Bind!” 

 

Chains seemed to wrap around the apprentice, knocking his own blade from his grasp. Xehanort gasped and grunted, but no amount of struggling would release him from the bindings. 

 

Mickey gently took the blade out of Sora’s hands, catching the four year old as he collapsed. “He’s just exhausted,” the mouse said as Squall ran over after making sure Riku was okay, “Most children aren’t able to handle a keyblade that young, but his heart must be strong.”

 

Squall grinned and took the little guy from Mickey’s arms, “Yeah... they both have strong hearts.”

 

Riku had managed to open his eyes, sitting up on his own and looking at Sora with the same amount of hero worship Squall had seen when the boys looked up at Cloud. 

 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Riku glanced up ath Mickey who nodded. 

 

“He just needs a bit of a nap first.”

 

Riku blinked and nodded before looking back down at Sora, “He’s always needs a nap after a race.” Then Riku pulled the smaller boy against him so he had a lapful of spiky brown hair and began to run his fingers through it, humming a happy tune. 

 

After a moment, Ienzo came out from his own hiding place and sat down next to Riku, just observing the sight around him. His gaze lingered on the scientist, Even, who was still knocked out by the blast of darkness from Xehanort earlier, before passing over them to the others. 

 

That kid would probably have a lot to say, if he ever decides to speak, Squall thought, before getting up and helping Mickey and Cloud secure Xehanort. Mickey added a sleep spell so the man would stop grumbling. 

 

“We should check in on the others, make sure that the other apprentices are okay, as well as bind them,” Mickey said. “Something’s going on here, and I don’t think we should let anyone go until Ansem the Wise can get down here.”

 

“And you gotta find Lea and Isa!” Riku added, “Sora and I saw them get taken somewhere else. But we don’t know where...”

 

“Well... we can ask the other apprentices that as well,” Mickey agreed. 

 

Eventually, Cloud took Sora, Riku and Ienzo back up to the main part of the castle, promising to tell Master Ansem what was going on in his laboratory. 

 

It took less than an hour for the older gentleman to come down to the laboratory. Once he had realized what his apprentices had done...well...Squall hoped he would never have to see such a look of devastation on the man’s face ever again. 

 

Thankfully, it appeared that few other guards were in on Apprentice Xehanort’s experimentations and those scientists and guards were soon secured. 

 

Squall went looking for Lea and Isa, finding them in two separate cells, the doors of which were quickly dismantled with a few blows from Squall’s gunblade. 

 

The boys inside were shaken up, but otherwise unhurt. Lea was mostly disappointed in himself for getting kidnapped and leaving the kids unattended. Squall made the decision to not tell Lea about the kids’ adventure to rescue the two till long after this was over. Instead he got them comfortable in the hallway just outside the cell block while he checked the rest of the rooms, which were all, thankfully, empty. 

 

Though a few looked like they had recently been used. 

 

\---

 

Returning home that evening, Squall’s head was full to bursting with new information, and he felt a headache coming on. Lea and Isa were seen to their home by Mickey, with the promise that Squall would fill them in at the earliest possible convenience. 

 

Just as soon as he sorted out his own thoughts.  

 

“Hey...”

 

Squall nearly summoned his gunblade at the sound of the voice, but he managed to calm himself as he recognized Cloud’s soft tone and turned to look. 

 

The blond was stuck in the armchair, both young boys curled up in his lap. Sora was dead asleep on Cloud’s shoulder while Riku had made himself comfortable in the blonde’s lap, using the arm of the chair as a pillow. 

 

“Thanks for staying with them,” Squall whispered, walking over and taking Sora off of Cloud’s shoulder, sure that the blonde would appreciate getting the feeling in his arm back. Sora mumbled and shifted, but eventually settled onto Leon’s shoulder. 

 

“Of course,” Cloud murmured, running a hand through Riku’s hair. “I wouldn’t just leave them alone.” 

 

“I know...” Squall sighed, and Cloud looked sharply up at him. 

 

“That bad?”

 

The brunet shrugged, “More just... confusing. According to Mickey, that Xehanort apprentice is really some other keyblade wielder named Terra? Or at least... his body is Terra’s, but he’s been possessed by some old guy named Xehanort.”

 

“...okay?”

 

Squall huffed out a laugh, “I know. It’s...” Impossible? Ridiculous? Strange?

 

When did his life get to be so weird?

 

“Probably when you stumbled across these two...”

 

With a start, Squall realized he had spoken his last question aloud. Then he huffed out a laugh, “Yeah, probably.” 

 

“Mmnk...” Riku groaned and blinked his eyes open, “Squall!” He hopped off of Cloud’s lap and hurried over, pulling at Squall’s sleeve till the brunet knelt down to his level, keeping Sora secure against his shoulder. “Did you get the bad guys?”

 

Squall ruffled the silver hair and nodded, “Every one. Did you help Cloud bring Sora all the way back here?”

 

“Yeah... he didn’t wake up once...” Riku placed a hand on Sora’s back. “You sure he’s okay?”

 

“Yeah. Mickey said that he might sleep for the rest of the night.”

 

“Mickey....the mouse?”

 

“That’s the guy...” Squall stood back up and took Riku’s hand, “He’ll be back by tomorrow with his own... teacher. So let’s get you two to bed so you’ll be awake to meet them...”

 

“Ahh... but I’m not tired...”

 

“Then the rule still stands. Lay quietly in bed with your eyes closed until the big hand makes a full rotation around the clock.” 

 

“...fine...” 

 

Squall heard Cloud laugh as he put the kids in their bed. Sora barely whined as Squall placed him in the bed, while Riku quickly curled up around his best friend. 

 

“Hey, Squall?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Do you think Mickey knows if we’ll be able to go back to the islands?”

 

“I dunno buddy,” Squall shrugged. Since their conversation was derailed by the afternoon’s events, Squall hadn’t had a chance to ask the mouse about the fate of the boys’ island. 

 

“Oh... ok...” Riku hummed for a moment and Squall hesitated, sensing that the silver haired boy wanted to say more. “Cause... Sora and I were talking, and... we wouldn’t mind if we had to stay here for a bit longer. You’re cool... and all...”

 

“....Thanks...” He ruffled the silver hair again and then leaned over to ruffle Sora’s as well. “You guys are pretty cool too...” 

 

Riku grinned back and then curled into Sora’s warmth. Despite his earlier protests, Squall was fairly certain the boy fell asleep before the older brunet could turn off the light. 

 

Cloud met him at the end of the hall. “So... the mouse is coming back tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah... he said that he needed his teacher to look at the boys, but he suspects that Riku is someone who will eventually be able to wield one of those keyblades.” At Cloud’s raised eyebrow he clarified, “Remember, that blade that Mickey wielded. He said it was a keyblade. And so was the weird ass blade Xehanort had. Apparently, they’re special.”

 

“Ahh...” Cloud nodded. “And Sora? He managed to grab onto Mickey’s...keyblade.”

 

“Yeah... Mickey seemed a little... worried about that.”

 

“I see... and... Xehanort? What’s gonna happen to him.”

 

“Ansem locked him in one of the cells like where they were keeping Lea and Isa, along with Braig and a few of the other apprentices,” Squall sighed, “This goes a lot deeper than we thought. What Xehanort had done to Destiny Islands? He was going to do that here as well.”

 

“What? Just... make our world disappear?”

 

“Yeah...Open it to the darkness and the heartless,” Squall shuddered, and he resisted the urge to check on the boys again. 

 

Just to make sure. 

 

“Squall... c’mon. Let’s get you changed out of your uniform and then you need to go to bed as well...”

 

“I gotta...” Patrol? Check the streets? Make sure everyone was safe?

 

“You gotta go to sleep...” Cloud grumbled. “The town can get on for one night without you...”

 

“We’re down by three guards...”

 

“And we got a battalion to make up for it...Just...” Cloud let out a loud sigh, then began pushing Squall towards his bedroom. “Go. To. Sleep.”

 

“Stay with me?”

 

The words were out of Squall’s mouth before he could stop them. 

 

Cloud hesitated for a moment too long. 

 

“I mean... not...that you have to... I just... I--” Squall was thankfully cut off when Cloud brushed a finger against his lips. 

 

“We have to talk about...this...” Cloud finally said, “But that can wait for the morning. For now... let’s just go to bed, kay?”

 

“...okay...” Squall agreed, this time following Cloud more willingly to the bedroom. 

 

They quickly changed into bedclothes, Cloud borrowing a pair of Squall’s. Then they curled up under the covers. Not quite touching, but enough that they could reach out for each other in the middle of the night if needed. 

 

\---

 

Squall was glad the man conjured his own tea. 

 

He was pretty sure the man wouldn’t have liked his paltry offering of mediocre coffee and even more mediocre tea. 

 

“This is unsettling indeed,” the man said, the spoon in his cup stirring itself. 

 

Mickey had said that the man , Yen Sid, was a former keyblade master and the mouse’s own former teacher, though Squall couldn't imagine what it would have been like to train under him. He seemed frighteningly stern. 

 

Though he seemed to have a soft spot for children as neither Riku or Sora were fazed by his slightly unsettling stare as they tried to teach Mickey some kind of clapping and rhythm game they learned from Kairi. 

 

“I am familiar with their home world Destiny Islands, and it is tragic what has befallen it.”

 

“Sir?” Squall asked quietly, hoping the boys were distracted enough, “Can it be... restored?”

 

“Hmm... Eventually, yes. But first, Mickey and his friends must travel to any other places where the stars have gone out.”

 

“Stars?”

 

The brunet looked over to where Cloud’s brow furrowed in confusion. He was glad that the blonde stayed for this. Squall wasn’t sure if he could have figured out all the questions to ask on his own. 

 

“Yes,” the older man nodded, “the stars you see in the night sky are the lights from the hearts of other worlds. When a world’s heart is overwhelmed by darkness, their star twinkles out.”

 

“So...there have been other stars that have gone out?”

 

“Yes...” The man’s voice was grave, and he glanced back over to where Sora was cheering Mickey on in the clapping game. “And I’m afraid, that we don’t have time to waste. As much as we generally do not bring children into these matters, the number of keyblade wielders has dwindled down to just Mickey and Xehanort. I am a retired master. If we can revive Terra, perhaps he can help us locate his friends. But for now...” Yen sid sighed. “We must start Sora and Riku’s training immediately.”

 

Squall stood up, “Sir! Sora briefly held on to Mickey’s keyblade and he passed out for almost a whole day, surely he can’t-”

 

“I don’t mean for them to immediately embark on their destined path,” Yen Sid raised a hand to calm the brunet, but it was really only Cloud’s gentle grip around his wrist that reminded the older brunet to take a deep breath and to sit down again. 

 

“I heard of Sora’s unusual brush with magic,” Yen Sid said, “And indeed, such a strong spell, even with Mickey’s power behind it, would knock any weaker mage out for a few hours at best. But, the fact that Sora was able to hold the keyblade at all says something for the strength of his heart.... Mickey,” the older man beckoned to his apprentice, who excused himself from Sora and Riku’s game. 

 

The boys began playing amongst themselves, laughing when Sora lost the rhythm of the clapping. 

 

“Yes, Master?”

 

“Just to be clear, you never performed an inheritance ceremony with Sora, correct?”

 

“No, Master.”

 

“Hmmm... and yet he was able to not only pick up your blade, but use it. The keyblade must have sensed a strong heart within him, and the inheritance was passed down naturally.”

 

“Can keyblades... do that?” Squall was so confused. It sounded like this keyblade was sentient in some way.

 

“It’s a rare form of inheritance, which is why I think Sora will still need constant monitoring. If someone else performed the ceremony with him... then that is something we’ll need to watch for. But... Riku also possesses the power.”

 

“Yes... when Terra was able to regain control of his body for a moment,” Mickey spoke up, “He indicated that Riku was his apprentice...”

 

“Hmm...” he then turned to where Riku and Sora were still playing a game. “Riku. May I ask if you recognized the man who attacked you yesterday.”

 

Riku looked down and kicked his legs out from the couch. “Maybe...” He didn’t elaborate. 

 

Squall walked over and took a seat next to him, wrapping a supporting arm around him, “It’s important, Riku.”

 

Riku seemed to curl up tighter and shook his head, “Can’t tell...”

 

Sora leaned in, “Riku... is this about that secret?”

 

Instantly, Riku’s head shot up, “Sora! No!”

 

Sora frowned, “But if they say it’s important...”

 

“It’s not!” Riku shouted, “I didn’t--”

 

“Riku...” Yen Sid said calmly, “I understand that you wish to keep it a secret, but I’m sure in these circumstances...”

 

“I can’t!” Riku said again, starting to panic. Squall pulled him in tighter, rubbing his back lightly. 

 

“Deep breaths, kid,” Squall murmured, “Just like when we’re meditating...”

 

The silver haired boy took a few breaths that hitched before he was able to take a deep one, then another. Beside him, Sora mirrored the actions. 

 

After a moment of deep breaths, Riku was able to start explaining. “I told Sora the secret... and then the monsters came.... What if I tell a secret here... and they attack here, too?” Riku grapsed Sora’s hand, “Sora and I like it here...”

 

“If the monsters attack,” Squall said, reaching around so he could lay a hand on Sora’s shoulder as well, “Cloud and I will protect you.”

 

Riku looked up at him, blinking for a moment, then nodding. “Okay.” He took a deep breath, “The guy yesterday... I saw him on the beach one day on the play island. He... he said that there were other worlds out there... then he had this huge sword. When I touched it, I felt this... spark...He said I had to keep it a secret or else the magic would go away.” He glanced down at his hands. “Then... he came back... but his hair was different. It used to be brown... like yours Squall! And now he was mean... he kicked Sora and I out of our secret spot. So we went home.” Riku pulled his knees up to his chest, “I got mad... and told Sora the secret... and then the monsters came.” He looked over at Sora, “I’m sorry... I’m the reason our home disappeared.”

 

Sora let out a sigh that could have come from an old man. “Riku... I don’t think that’s why the monsters came, but even if it was, I wouldn’t blame you.” He wrapped his arms around the silver haired boy, allowing Riku to cry quietly into his shirt, “You’re my best friend. I’d forgive you for anything.”

 

“Anything?” Riku questioned.

 

“Well... maybe not if you ate the last of my ice cream... but yeah,” Sora grinned, pinching Riku’s cheeks till the older boy grinned back. 

 

“Okay...”

 

“Well... now we know how Riku was given the power, but how did both boys end up here, and not in Traverse Town...” Mickey wondered. 

 

“Hm...mysterious indeed,” Yen Sid agreed. “However... I have heard of ancient tales. When the worlds were first separated and keyblade wielders were still young. Since the worlds were young and new, they were overtaken by darkness more easily, and worlds fell until a balance was achieved. In those days, if a world fell, any keyblade wielders from that world would be transported to the home world of their Master. In this case, I believe that Riku’s intended destination would be where ever Terra’s heart was.”

 

“And Sora?” Cloud questioned, taking a seat on the couch on Squall’s other side and running a hand through Sora’s hair, much to the brunet’s delight. 

 

“Hmm...” Yen Sid glanced down where the two boys were still holding on to each other, “The boys share a bond I have rarely seen. It’s possible the light from it was so intertwined, that the darkness could not separate them. Wherever one went, the other would surely follow.” The man then looked at Squall, “Mr. Leonhart, is it?”

 

“Uh... yes sir.”

 

“You have been the one teaching these boys swordplay?”

 

“Uh... yeah...” Squall laid a hand on Cloud’s arm. “Cloud has been teaching them as well.”

 

“As well as some basic meditation techniques?”

 

“Mostly just to cool Riku’s temper, but Sora’s been picking up on them as well.” Squall wasn’t sure where the older man was going with this line of questioning. 

 

“I see...” Yen Sid nodded to himself, as if coming to a conclusion. “Then... I can now see clearly the path the lies before us.”

 

He turned to his former student, “Mickey, you, as well as your friends, Donald and Goofy must travel to other worlds to find if any others have fallen to darkness. We need to know how far Xehanort’s plan has gone before we can move forward.” 

 

Yen Sid’s beady eyes then turned to Squall. “Mr. Leonhart, I must ask you to remain the boys’ guardian and teacher for a while longer.” He stroked his beard again, “While the boys are still developing their swordplay skills, we can begin preparing them for use of magic, which is where your meditation lessons can be helpful. They clearly respect you and would likely listen to you more than any other teacher I could find for them. I may also have a few suggested lessons for the future, which would help Sora and Riku prepare for their destiny as keyblade wielders.” 

 

“Uh...” Squall scrambled to find the words to say, “I mean, I don’t mind teaching them at all... or housing them...” He then gave a sigh, “Honestly, I was a little worried you would take them away.”

 

“And deprive them of a worthy parental figure?” Yen Sid sounded shocked at the suggestion. 

 

Squall shrugged, and he heard Cloud huff out a little laugh beside him. “Well...”

 

“Hopefully, we will be able to restore the Destiny Islands soon, and reunite Sora and Riku with their parents, but until then...” Yen Sid looked onward at the boys, who were now squirming off of Squall’s lap and running towards one of the cupboards, pulling out a small set of coloring supplies the older brunet had bought for them, “Until then, I believe that they see you as their family. I would never take that away from them.”

 

Squall let out a long sigh, rising from his seat on the couch to bow to the man in respect, “Thank you sir. The feeling is mutual. I would do anything for them.”

 

\---

 

Mickey and Yen Sid left in the early afternoon, the retired keyblade master promising to forward along some books to help Squall and Cloud tailor their swordplay and meditation lessons to help Sora and Riku be able to transfer the skills to a keyblade later on. 

 

It was just as the mouse and older gentleman were leaving when Kairi and her grandmother stopped by. Kairi bowed politely to the mouse and man before running to see Riku and Sora. Gramma winked at Master Yen Sid, who looked a little shocked to see the older woman. 

 

“Master--”

 

“Now, now, it’s just Gramma,” Gramma said, pointing her finger at the older man, “And don’t you forget it.” 

 

“Of course.” The older gentleman looked back at Kairi with renewed interest, before letting out a long sigh and resuming his exit with Mickey, who looked more confused than ever. 

 

Squall understood the feeling. 

 

“I heard the boys had a bit of excitement yesterday.”

 

Squall looked down at Gramma, who was watching the boys and Kairi with amused fondness. “Um, yeah... Sora and Riku sorta... helped take down conspirators organizing a bit of a coup-d'etat.” It was supposed to remain a secret until all was uncovered, but Squall learned long ago that it was fruitless to keep secrets from this woman. “It was a number of Ansem’s apprentices and own guardsmen.” 

 

“Oh my,” Gramma shook her head, “I knew that silly boy had a soft spot for anyone. He would have never suspected those closest to him until it was much too late.”

 

_ Silly boy? _

 

Not for the first time, Squall wondered who, exactly, this woman was.

 

“Hey, Gramma...” Cloud asked, stepping between them and laying a hand on Squall’s arm. “Can you watch the kids for just a moment. I need to have a word with this one here.” 

 

“Of course... in fact, why don’t you two just go out for dinner? I can handle things here!” With that she entered Squall’s house and closed the door. The brunet thought he heard a the lock click as well. 

 

“Did she just--” Squall gaped at the door, wondering what the hell just happened. 

 

“She does know it’s not dinner time, right?” Cloud just sounded more annoyed at the thought of an early dinner than anything else.

 

“I dunno... I,” Squall sighed, “I just need to resign myself to the fact that this is my life now.”

 

“Yes, I do think that would make your life much easier.”

 

The brunet felt a gentle hand take his wrist, then slide down to intertwine long, slender fingers with his own. Turning, he saw Cloud giving him a small smile as the blonde tugged him away from the house. “C’mon. They will be fine today, and you’re going to need to walk away from them eventually and know they’ll still be there when you get back.”

 

“But... it was just yesterday that---”

 

“I know... trust me, I’m resisting the urge to pick the lock on the windows to check on them...” Cloud shook his head, “Maybe we can just get a late lunch and she’ll be satisfied.”

 

“I doubt it...” Squall sighed, “but you’re right... they’ll be okay. The conspirators in Radiant Garden were all captured.”

 

“Right...” 

 

“And the boys seemed okay with us leaving.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“They won’t be going to the gardens at all today,”

 

“Correct...”

 

“.... then why am I still panicking?!” 

 

Cloud laughed and squeezed Squall’s hand, which the brunet realized he was still holding. “Because they’re  _ your _ boys and they just went through something pretty traumatic. You went through something traumatic. I think it’s okay if you’re not comfortable. I’m sure Gramma will understand if we need to go back earlier with just lunch.”

 

“Okay...” Squall nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself, “Okay...” He then turned to Cloud, “How are you doing? Braig hit you pretty hard on the head yesterday.”

 

Cloud rubbed at the spot where the sharpshooters gun had been slammed into his skull. “I’m alright. That heal spell Mickey performed worked wonders...”

 

“Right...So...” Squall fumbled around for something to talk about... oh wait. “What was it you actually did want to talk with me about? Before Gramma kicked us out.”

 

“Oh...um...” This time it was Cloud’s turn to fumble over his words, and Squall just barely resisted saying out loud that he found it cute. 

 

That was definitely a private thought to not be unpacked. Ever. 

 

“Well...” Finally, Cloud grew frustrated with himself, and Squall almost laughed, finding the look on the blonde’s face so reminiscent of Sora. 

 

But a second later, thoughts of either boy faded into the background. Along with anything else Squall may have been thinking. 

 

Squall’s brain was currently simultaneously melting and exploding somehow. 

 

Cloud’s lips... were on his lips, the blonde pressing against them. 

 

Was this on purpose... or did the blonde trip?

 

Maybe Cloud tripped. 

 

But then Cloud stepped closer and the pressure got more insistent. 

 

So maybe he didn’t trip. 

 

Squall wasn’t sure what to do with this emotion that was rising inside of him. 

 

Oh... maybe he should kiss back. 

 

The brunet tilted his head, pressing back into the kiss, just as the blonde was about to back away. 

 

A sigh escaped the blonde’s lips and Squall felt his lips twitch in a smile. 

 

“Mm... stop smirking,” Cloud murmured, his breath hot on the brunette's face. 

 

“I’m not...”

 

“Sure...” Cloud grinned and laid another kiss on the taller man. 

 

Squall held him for a moment longer, just to make sure this was all real, before he pulled away. “Are you sure you want to do this... You’d kinda be dating a single father.”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

“My kids are kinda brats.”

 

“Good thing they already love me.”

 

“I’ll be busy.”

 

Cloud let out a long sigh, wrapping his arms around Squall’s neck and leaned up, hovering just millimeters away from the brunet’s face. “Just shut up and kiss me Leonhart.”

 

“...okay.”

 

....They ended up having that dinner after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be a sequel to this! Though... it's not written, I do have ideas. Mostly the idea that spawned this fic in the first place (Sora, Riku and Squall misadventures in Pride Rock, anyone?) :D
> 
> Thanks for Reading!


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